


Forgetting You

by Rei382



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Hurt!Ed, M/M, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25488331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei382/pseuds/Rei382
Summary: Roy did not expect anything out of the ordinary when he sent Ed on a pursuit to catch a common criminal. But sometimes unexpected things happen, and during the chase Ed got himself injured and lost the memory of the past week - including him and Roy getting together.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Comments: 13
Kudos: 81
Collections: RoyEd OTPoly 2020





	Forgetting You

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhhh my writing speed is so much slower than I want it to be!! But I'm actually happy with this piece so I hope you guys will be too ^-^  
> *Written for my RoyEd game, RoyEd OTPoly for the prompt:  
> Base: Ed and Roy started dating only a week ago, but then one of them loses the whole week's worth of memories, including that they finally got together. Word count: 496-946  
> House: No one but them knew about the relationship yet. Word count: 1353-2805  
> Hotel: Use mixed POVs. Max word count: 4294

“Ed? Ed! Oh my god, call a nurse, he’s awake!”

The voice, much too loud through his aching head, sounded familiar. It was followed by footsteps hurrying away. Ed slowly opened his eyes, blinking at the bright lights. After a moment of adjustment he could finally see who the voice belonged to – and why it was so familiar. He tried moving a little and realized that he was not, in fact, laying in his bed as he’d assumed, but on what could only be a hospital bed, considering how uncomfortable it was and how itchy the fabric of the sheets was. He groaned, both in annoyance at that realization, and because the minimal movement made his entire body hurt, too.

“Al?” he said and was horrified at how hoarse his voice sounded. He felt something – probably Alphonse’s hand – touching his arm. “What… what happened?”

“You were fighting this man – you know, that big one, with the tattoo? – and you fell down and the doctors said you injured your head… oh, Ed, I was so worried! How are you feeling now?”

Ed blinked again. Al definitely looked worried, but also relieved. And also like Ed was supposed to know what he was talking about, which he definitely didn’t. The last thing he remembered doing was being scolded by General Bastard for one thing or another. He remembered no big man, no tattoos, no chase, and certainly not a fall bad enough to get him into a hospital.

But there was no need to worry Alphonse about it. At least not until he finds out what had happened. He moved a bit again, slower this time in an attempt to reduce the amount of inevitable pain as he tried to get himself at least a bit more comfortable.

“Aching and uncomfortable,” he replied instead, ignoring the whole first part of Alphonse’s words. “How – uh – I mean, how long was I unconscious?”

Al gave a little squeeze to his arm, which made him flinch. “Almost two days.”

“Shit.”

Two days. That must mean he got it real bad. What on _earth_ happened?

“Tell me about it,” Alphonse replied. “You know how fucking worried I was?! I – I thought you might not – “

He never got to finish that sentence as the room door opened and in walked a nurse, accompanied by his good friend Winry. Without waiting the nurse walked over to Ed and busied herself with the various tubes. Ed followed her with his eyes, also noticing Alphonse and Winry both walking to the corner of the room where two chairs were waiting for them.

It all happened so fast – or maybe Ed’s brain was so slow after being in a coma for two days – but before he managed to form even one of the many questions he wanted to ask the nurse turned to him.

“It is very nice to see you awake, Edward,” she said in a kind voice. Then she leaned forward and he felt her thumb on his eyelid as she forced it open and then shined some light into it. He protested, but it didn’t seem to change her mind about torturing him. “How are you feeling?”

Dumb question considering she’d just blinded him, but as she straightened up and left his eyes alone, he blinked a few times and noticed that he was able to see again. He decided that cooperating would probably induce the least amount of harm.

“Achy,” he replied.

She smiled at him softly, as if she’d expected that answer. After a moment of thought Ed figured she probably did.

“You’ve been through a lot these past three days. Can you tell me what happened?”

Oh, he was so lucky he had a minute to talk to Al before she came in! “Yes, that I can do,” he said proudly. All he wanted was to get out of here as quickly as possible. “I was fighting some guy and then I fell. I guess I hit my head because it hurts like fuck.”

“I see,” she didn’t seem impressed with him at all. It made him frown. Did anything else happen that he was supposed to remember? His mind came completely blank. “Can you tell me your full name?”

Ed frowned, taken aback. What a silly question! “Edward Elric.”

“Great, well done!” he was a second away from rolling his eyes at her. “And what’s your date of birth?”

Were they concerned of some brain injury? Ed was more worried about the pain in his leg. “February 4th, 1989.”

“Good, good. And those people there,” she now glanced and gestured at Al and Winry. “Can you tell me who they are?”

He did.

“And what day is it today?”

“Friday, July 17th, 1914.”

Within a second the atmosphere in the room changed. The nurse looked at him, still smiling, but there was another emotion in her features now. Behind her Alphonse and Winry both looked at him with clear worry; scared, even.

“Are you sure, Edward?”

He frowned, looking between her and his brother. “Yes. Why? Is it not Friday?”

“Brother… it _is_ Friday. But it’s the 24th.”

Ed stared at them, and then at the nurse. “What?”

“The 17th was a week ago.”

“Ed… do you really not remember?”

“No – I – fine so I got the date wrong, I almost never pay attention to that shit anyway.” He was trying to ignore the rising panic inside him. It shouldn’t be that alarming. Dates really were hard.

Alphonse got up from his chair and walked over. “Do you remember what happened on Wednesday?”

“Of course I do!” Ed replied. He was getting anxious. Wednesday… what was so special about Wednesday? “I went to work, and they served burgers like they do every Wednesday, and I’m pretty sure I had a fight with the bastard… then I went home and had dinner and went to bed.”

“Ed… no.” Before Ed could ask him what he means, Al turned to the nurse. “Is it possible he lost his memory?”

“It could be,” the nurse replied. She kept looking at him with a mixture of worry and curiosity. “But I don’t know if it’s permanent or if the last week will return to him.”

Ed kept staring. He felt fine; apart from the numbing headache and the pain in pretty much every part of his body. But he didn’t feel like he was _missing_ something. What on Earth was going on?

*

Being a General in the Amestrian military had its perks. The pay was good, for one; he was mostly treated with admiration and respect. He was up for a very general pension once he retired, which is also earlier than most professions.

And he could decide when he was going to visit his subordinates when they were admitted to the hospital, regardless of visiting hours.

Of course, that also meant he had to make the tough decision that could get them there; but he was very proud to say that more often than not that was not the case.

Today, however, it was with a mixture of self-loathing and relief that he went to the hospital, flashed his rank and went to visit Edward Elric. He did not expect that chase to end the way it did. The culprit wasn’t supposed to be an alchemist; all signs had shown he was just a regular neighborhood criminal. And Roy had sent Ed there, thinking it was an easy chase-and-catch. He sent Ed there, and now, merely a week after they finally admitted their feelings for each other, he was laying in the hospital with a possible brain injury and several new bruises.

Relief, because even though while he was unconscious Roy visited during normal hours, now that he’d been informed that he was awake and probably suffering a minor memory loss, he could visit him alone and not pretend he was so much more than just his subordinate. He could hold his hand and run his fingers through his hair without being scared someone might see them.

Not that he was ashamed of his budding relationship with Ed; but the conditions were hardly ideal. As a General, and an up-and-coming future Fuhrer of Amestris, Roy couldn’t get caught in yellow drama, and dating his male-14-years-his-junior subordinate was exactly the kind of thing the papers would just love to get their hands on. Which is why they were forced to keep their relationship hidden from everyone for now. Later, when what they have would become more stable and serious they could announce it to the world. But now they were just testing the waters, and Roy didn’t need the mayhem that would erupt killing what they had only just started.

He knocked on the door to Ed’s room, and upon hearing Ed’s voice calling him in, pushed it open.

Even though he knew he was awake, it was still a relief to see Ed sitting on his hospital bed with his dinner tray and golden eyes that were staring at the door. So much better than his comatose form when even the doctors couldn’t tell for sure when he was going to wake up. Roy felt like a huge weight was lifted from his chest. The past few days, not knowing what was going to happen and if Ed would _ever_ wake up, were extremely difficult. Fear and guilt made it near impossible to sleep or eat, and if it wasn’t for the constant threat of Hawkeye’s gun, he probably wouldn’t have been able to work, either.

Ed stared at him with his fork in one hand, as if he was in the middle of the bite. Clearly he was expecting the intruder to be someone from the medical crew, not a visitor.

But there was something a bit off, Roy realized as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Something about Ed’s expression didn’t quite fit what he was expecting.

“Mustang? What are you doing here?”

The smile faded from Roy’s lips. _Mustang_? He thought that they were past that. Maybe he was just scared someone might see them. He walked towards him and grabbed the chair from the entrance to the room along with him. He placed it right by Ed’s bed and sat down, very away of Ed’s stare following him as he did so. Once settled in the chair he reached towards Ed’s hand and held it in his own.

“How are you fe – “

“What are you doing?” Ed’s question cut into Roy’s. Roy looked at his face and saw his confusion and – _fear_? His cheeks were flushed. It was as if the past week did not happen.

He was told, when he arrived at the nurse station, that Ed had suffered some kind of a memory loss. He expected, then, that Ed won’t remember who he was chasing, or how he fell and got himself injured. But he definitely did not expect him to forget about what happened between them.

Roy took his hand back. “Ed – do you not remember what happened a week ago?” he asked. He made sure that his voice would not have any blame in it. But it was hard keeping the hurt from showing.

“You mean – Friday the 17th?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess I came to the office, worked some, and went home?”

The stone that rolled off his chest rolled right back. He really didn’t remember. Didn’t remember having spilled Roy’s black coffee all over Roy’s uniform and documents moments which he needed for the urgent meeting the following day. Didn’t remember having stayed in the office with him until past midnight. Didn’t remember suggesting taking his jacket – the only clean one Roy had as it was the weekend and he did not expect it to get dirty on Friday – to the base’s laundry room. Didn’t remember the tension between them once Roy was dressed only in his undershirt, or how they started talking while waiting for the machine to finish the cycle, or how they little by little sat a little closer, leaned a little farther, until Roy had nothing to do but confess how attractive he found Ed. He didn’t remember their kiss, or anything that followed it.

Which meant he also didn’t remember the week between then and now, with stolen kisses in the office and overnights spent at Roy’s house.

It was a nightmare Roy didn’t even know he had coming true and mixing up with the relief that an alive and talking Ed gave him.

He wondered how he should proceed from here; acting like he got accustomed to during those several days would probably just drive Ed away from him. He could pretend there was nothing between them. After all, he’d been doing that for years, to an extent, and in the past week with a vengeance. But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to keep hiding his feelings from Ed, didn’t want to return to that time when they were both pining for each other but too scared to do anything about it.

He should find a way to tell him, but in a way that would not freak him out.

“Ed, what did the doctors tell you?”

He could see the light flinch and the pink hue in Ed’s face at the use of his first name like that. Before last Friday, it was either Elric, Fullmetal, or Edward. He always felt like only the people closest to Ed had a right to call him by the shortened version; and it was only after last Friday that Roy felt he was allowed to consider himself a part of that fortunate group of people.

It seemed, though, that this unaware Ed had decided to let it slip. “That I fell, and I had a surgery. That physically I’m mostly fine, just need to recover from the surgery and get my leg ready to be stepped on.”

Roy listened, unable not to glance at Ed’s leg when he mentioned he can’t step on it. The worry he felt – inappropriate for a commanding officer, he knew it – must have shown on his face, because Ed looked at him with a mixed expression of curiosity and concern.

Roy cleared his throat before talking again. It was so hard to resist reaching over and touching Ed again: to move that strand of hair that laid right across his forehead, or hold his hand. “Did they say anything else?”

He could see the hesitation on Ed’s face and knew the answer right away. But he wasn’t going to press it if Ed chose not to say.

He watched as he looked away from him. “Apparently I also lost the whole past week, too. Can’t remember it.” Roy waited patiently as it looked like Ed didn’t quite finish talking. “But, uh,” Ed turned his head back, but he still seemed too uncomfortable to look Roy in the eye. “They say it might come back, you know, after a while. And if not… well, that’s just what it is. But don’t worry, it shouldn’t really affect my work, so we’re good.”

Roy let out a sigh. “It is not your work I am worried about,” he said. He expected it, but it was still nerve-wrecking to see the change of expression on Ed’s face. He had to tell him. He wouldn’t be able to keep the knowledge to himself; it was one thing to hide and be professional when he knew nothing would happen; but now… besides, another, more persuasive side of his brain claimed, it would be unfair towards Ed. “Ed, the reason I asked you about last Friday is because last Friday you stayed at my office. There was an accident, nothing big, but you stayed to help me.” He watched as the color drained from Ed’s face. He almost regretted telling him, but he had to. He’d already started. “One thing led to another and we kissed.”

He waited, giving the words time to settle in Ed’s mind. He could only imagine what it was like to lose your memory, and have something like this being told to him.

“You – I – “ Ed started.

Roy heard his forced breathing, heard the disbelief in his stuttered words. He gave him another moment but when he didn’t continue, Roy decided to keep talking instead of him. “I know it is probably a lot to take right now, but I felt I should tell you. I have feelings for you.” Damn. This wasn’t easy even the second time around. “Have had them for a long time. And I know you feel the same about me. I am not going to push you into anything, but the past week, as brief as it was, was exceptionally good, for me, and I believe it was for you as well.” He hoped it was. “I will give you as long as you wish to think about it, but the offer is on the table.”

All while Roy spoke Ed’s expression didn’t change. He still seemed rather pale, and confused, and embarrassed to his core. Roy couldn’t blame him; while he believed that his reaction won’t be as inelegant, he also knew that on the inside he would’ve felt more or less the same.

When Ed still did not say a word after a long moment Roy figured it would be better to follow his own words and give him the time he needed to digest the information. Waking up at a hospital and being told you lost a whole week of your life was hard enough an experience. Roy was certain that learning that during that week you’d been fucking your commanding officer didn’t make things any easier. He stood up. “Take your time to recover and, if you want to, consider what I’d told you. I said that to you last Friday, but I will say this again today; whatever you choose to do, I will not hold it against you in any way, and I am prepared to pretend nothing ever happened if that is your wish. Get well, Edward.” Saying his name like that felt strangely cold after he got used to using his more familiar name.

He offered a friendly smile before he turned towards the door. He started walking away, but Ed’s voice stopped him before he completed the first step.

“Wait.”

A single word, but so powerful it made Roy’s chest feel as if it was expanding. He wasn’t sure what to expect; was Ed going to berate him, or hold his hand and pull him back? He turned back towards Ed, trying to keep the emotion off his face.

“Yes?”

“I…” Ed started. He still looked confused, but the color had returned to his face. “Is that true? Everything you’ve just said?”

“Yes.”

“What… uh,” he cleared his throat. “What else happened that I don’t remember?”

Roy resumed his seat. “All kinds of things,” he replied elusively. He still wasn’t exactly sure which direction Ed was going to go, and he didn’t want to scare him. “But I don’t mind starting fresh or forgetting anything happened at all.”

“No, uh – I don’t want you to forget.” The adorable pink returned to Ed’s cheeks. “Did we… you know?”

It took Roy a second to understand what Ed was asking; trust Ed to go directly to the core of things. “Have you _seen_ you?” it was a reflex reaction, but the rapidly deepening blush on Ed’s face was worth the awkwardness. Still, it was better to try and fix things before the nurse would be forced to return to the room to tend to Ed’s stroke. He cleared his throat. “I meant to say, yes. But that shouldn’t make any difference to whatever decision you make.”

“Oh. Does… do everyone know?”

Roy shook his head. “Just us. I hope. We both agreed it would be better to keep it a secret, at least for now.” He knew it sounded convenient; make up a relationship no one knows about, get in Ed’s pants. But he hoped Ed knew him well enough, trusted him enough, to know that he was telling him the truth. “So it is really, one-hundred percent your decision.”

“Yeah…” Ed’s voice trailed off, thoughtful.

Roy waited in silence, letting Ed have the time he needed. It took a long moment, but eventually Ed spoke. “I think it would be unfair of me to say I don’t think you’re attractive. I mean,” he smirked, finally, a more familiar Ed-like gesture. “Have you _seen_ you?” Roy chuckled. “But this… this is a bit much.”

Even though it was to be expected, Roy still felt the sinking disappointment within him. “I understand. And I meant what I said. This is no problem at all. I will just pretend that nothing ever happened.”

“I don’t know if you can really do that, but… if you can, try. At least at first.”

“I will definitely – _at first_?” Now it was Roy’s turn to be a little confused.

Ed kept looking at him, his smirk still adorning his pink face. “Yeah. You know, at least the first time you take me on a real date. Then we’ll just… see how it goes.”

That… was not what Roy expected. It was so, _so_ much better. He smiled, and for the second time reached over to place his hand on Ed’s. This time, however, Ed didn’t flinch away, didn’t look at him in horror; he accepted the touch, maybe his cheeks went half a shade darker. Would Roy ever get over how adorable he looked when blushing like this?

“A real date, huh?”

“Yup. And since you say it should be a secret, so you’re cooking. And I expect _lots_ of food.”

“Shouldn’t you heal, first?”

“Right.” It seemed like, for a second, Ed forgot about the situation; about being stuck at the hospital, about (probably) being in pain, about his memory loss. In a way, it was an encouraging sign. Then Ed took his hand away from Roy’s, making him arch his eyebrow at him in wonderment. “Let me finish my dinner then. Isn’t it after hours, too?”

“It is, but if it were me, I’d like to have a bright company such as myself for a dinner.”

“Still think too much of yourself, huh? But alright. You can stay.” Ed reached for his fork and pushed it into an unappealing potato.

“That’s very generous of you,” Roy replied, but smiled at him, watching him as he stuffed the potato into his mouth.

“I’m a generous person. A potato?” he pushed his fork into his plate again, and offered it to Roy.

Roy couldn’t help a chuckle. “No, thank you.”


End file.
